Carpet Capers & Handyman Hijinks

Improve Your Home's Air Quality

lopestravis7@gmail.com (Travis Lopes) — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 03:03:45 GMT

Ways You Can Make Your Indoor Air Quality Safer

Americans have never before spent so much time indoors, being inside as much as 90% of the time, and never before has indoor air quality been so poor. In fact, it's the environmental factor posing the greatest threat to our health. With better sealed buildings causing less air flow between inside and outside, an increase in the use of synthetically produced products such as cleaners and building supplies that release harmful airborne substances, and all the allergens, pollutants, molds, and dirt that get trekked in daily by our shoes or wafted in through our front doors, it's important for us to look for ways to proactively keep the air clean in our home. Perpetually breathing in air filled with contaminants can lead to issues from headaches, skin irritation, and bronchitis, to asthma, heart disease, or even cancer.

Fortunately, there are several simple things we can do!

Open Your Windows

Hands down the most effective way to maintain higher indoor air quality is to open your windows and doors and let the fresh air in. It's not only one of the simplest methods on this list, but it's free too! Even if you live in an area with high outdoor air pollution, it's still healthier to crack those windows open than to leave them closed and continue to recycle your old air.

Go Shoeless

Take your shoes off at the door! This will keep you from tracking in potential allergens, mold, lead, and bacteria throughout your home. Pesticides and herbicides that you would normally be on high-alert to keep your kiddos and fur babies away from get carried in and embedded in the carpets they play or sleep on.

Get 'Cleaner' About Cleaning

Swap out common household cleaners for ones that don't have dangerous chemicals in them. volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are misted into your home when you're trying to get rid of mold and bacteria. Unfortunately, instead of helping you make your home safer, they are actually making it more dangerous. VOCs can lead to lung cancer, asthma, and other respiratory issues. Finding out which cleaners are better for you can take some research but the rewards are well worth the effort. There many resources available today that make it easier than ever to find out which cleaning supplies to ditch and which ones to switch to, from apps that allow you to scan products' barcodes to give you an index of how safe they are, like Think Dirty or EWG's Healthy Living apps, to utilizing the EPA website's articles and lists that coach you into learning which specific chemicals to avoid.

Adopt More Houseplants!

There are so many studies that show the benefits of having green spaces in cities. Imagine what having your own personal indoor jungle could do for your indoor air quality! Though research shows divided results over how effective houseplants really are at purifying the air, some studies have shown that spider plants, snake plants, and peace lilies are the best plants at ridding the air of certain toxins.

Plug in an Air Purifier

This one is great because it filters out the dust, bacteria, and VOCs that are already in your home's air. Not only does it create cleaner air for you to breathe (meaning fewer health problems and better sleep for everyone in your household), it can make your whole house smell better too! Just like the cleaners, you'll need to do your research before bringing one home. There are different types of air purifiers - filtered, UV light, and electrostatic ones - and certain ones are better at filtering out different thing. Also, they may not be able to filter out certain things, such as mold, larger allergens (like pollen), and some VOCs.

Carpet EVERYTHING!! (JK, JK)

Did you know that carpets actually help purify indoor air? They trap all those allergens too large for an air purifier (along with all those tiny ones too), lead, dust, dirt, mold, those pesticides and herbicides drug in by our shoes...and keep them from floating around in your air. Some of these particles also absorb toxic airborne gases.

Of course you don't want to leave those particles laying there in your rug to be kicked back up in the air or to come into skin contact with anyone who may choose to lounge on your floor. It's important to vacuum all your carpets at least once a week, and up to twice in the higher traffic areas of your home.

While being faithful to do these routine vacuumings yourself is a great way to improve your air quality, don't

forget to invest in getting your carpets professionally cleaned every 12-18 months. The industrial-powered machines and special cleaners professional cleaners use are able to do a deep clean your home vac just isn't capable of. Also check to make sure the cleaners used are environmentally safe as you don't want to bathe your carpets in a VOC-laden detergent.

These are just a few suggestions to keep your family healthier by breathing cleaner air while doing life together at home. Hopefully there are some simple ones you can start using today!

AIR QUALITY CAN BE A SERIOUS CONCERN IN OUR HOUSES. LIVING IN CITIES OFTEN CAUSES US TO BECOME NOSE BLIND TO THE EVERYDAY AIR POLLUTION THAT SURROUNDS US. I WANT TO HELP YOU KEEP YOUR INDOOR AIR QUALITY AS CLEAN AS POSSIBLE TO HELP EASE AND PREVENT RESPIRATORY ILLNESSES IN YOUR HOME. IF YOU FEEL THAT A DEEP CARPET CLEANING WOULD HELP YOU HAVE CLEANER INDOOR AIR PLEASE REACH OUT TO ME FOR A FREE QUOTE OR TO SCHEDULE A CLEANING. THANK YOU!

Banishing 5 Common Stains from Your Carpets

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 16:17:22 GMT

Do It Yourself Help for Dealing with Common Stains

We've all been there. It's the weekend and you just want to relax by drinking your coffee in your "comfy spot" sitting in the warm sunshine in the living room. Then you drift asleep or check the time on your watch with the coffee cup still in your hand and oops, the coffee is now spilled all over the floor. Quickly, you go to the kitchen to get a paper towel or a rag to try to wipe up the mess, but the brown stain won't quite come all the way out of your carpet. When this happens it's really nice to have your mom or someone like her around to give you the best advice for what might help clean up the stain from what you have at home. In case you don't have someone around to give some advice, this article aims to help fill in the gaps. We will be discussing 5 common stains, from coffee to blood, and what steps you can take to help remove the stain.

COFFEE

Above we just covered how a coffee stain might occur. However, apart from the coffee the creamer that many people add to the coffee can sometimes make it especially difficult to remove.

What you can do right away: Blot the stain with a rag and cold water. This will help draw a lot of the coffee out of the carpet and prolong the stain from setting.

Homemade Solution: White vinegar mixed with water. Apply the solution to the stain and blot with a damp rag.

RED WINE

Maybe you are throwing a dinner party, or just enjoying an evening with your significant other. No matter the case a spill could occur and the subsequent stain ensue. Especially if you have a light colored surface red wine can cause a persistent stain that will be a constant eye sore.

What you can do right away: Blot the stain with a rag or paper towel and sprinkle the area with salt or baking soda. These will alter the pH of the wine and cause it to become more blue.

Homemade Solution: For red wine stains there are two options that might help. The first is to make a baking soda paste and apply directly to the stained area. Allow the paste to dry and vacuum it up. Once you have removed the paste completely, you can follow up with some laundry pre-treat. The other option is to use a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and dish soap applied to the area. Whichever you choose, avoid scrubbing the stain, rather blot or dab to prevent from spreading the stain or causing it to penetrate deeper into the carpet fibers.

GREASE AND OIL

Grease and oil stains occur primarily from the foot we are eating. Those potato chips can be especially tricky to get from the bag to our mouths... Also, just walking from the driveway into our home could bring with it some oil on our shoes.

What you can do right away: Blot the excess grease with a paper towel. Again don't scrub or rub!

Homemade Solution: Apply cornstarch or baking soda to the stain. Allow the cornstarch or baking soda to have time to absorb the oil or grease and then vacuum. There are typically several cleaners in a person's home that are degreasers as well. Be careful though what you use, and if you are unsure apply first to an inconspicuous area of your carpet (like in a closet). Dish soap is an excellent degreaser and can help to lift the stain.

INK

Ink can be a tricky one because it spreads quickly and is fast to dry or set into the carpet fibers.

What you can do right away: Blot the area gently with a dry cloth. Avoid at all costs scrubbing the area or trying to dilute the stain with water right away. This can cause your little ink stain into a large mess.

Homemade Solution: Rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer can help to break down the ink. Apply one of these to the stained area and again blot gently with a dry cloth.

BLOOD

Scraped knees to bloody noses our bodies can be leaky messes sometimes. Similar to ink blood stains can set quickly and taking quick measures can help alleviate the stain.

What you can do right away: Put on some latex or nitrile gloves first and rinse the area with cold water. Avoid using hot water as this can cause the proteins in the blood to clump up and be trickier to remove the stain.

Homemade Solution: Again two options can work to remove the stain. A baking soda paste applied to the stain, allowed to set until dry, and vacuumed up can help. Also, a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and dish soap can be used.

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THRU AND I HOPE THIS ARTICLE HELPS YOU OUT FOR CLEANING ANY OF THE ABOVE STAINS. I REALIZE THAT IT IS NOT EXHAUSTIVE, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY TIPS OF YOUR OWN FOR STAIN REMOVAL PLEASE COMMENT BELOW. IN ADDITION, FUTURE ARTICLES WILL BE WRITTEN TO ADDRESS MORE OF THE COMMON STAINS THAT CAN PLAGUE OUR LIVES.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR WOULD LIKE TO PURSUE GETTING PROFESSIONAL HELP TO REMOVE STAINS YOU HAVE IN YOUR CARPET OR UPHOLSTERY, PLEASE CONTACT ME!

Keeping Your Carpets Fresh and Clean

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 00:02:09 GMT

How to Keep The "New Sock" Feel After Your Carpets Have Been Professionally Cleaned

If you are like me, there aren't too many things better than putting on a new pair of socks to begin the day. The socks are soft, clean, and especially comfy. Professional carpet cleaning makes our carpets feel much the same way. Our hearts welcome and our feet thank us for the soft and fluffy feeling that a freshly cleaned carpet give us when we walk around our house barefoot. However, much like the feasibility of putting on a new pair of socks everyday, scheduling a professional to clean our carpets more regularly than once a year is just not reasonable. So how can we maintain the soft and luxurious feel that we experience after a carpet cleaner has visited our house?

Vacuuming with Purpose

The most obvious way to maintain that fresh carpet feel is to vacuum on a regular schedule. You should aim to vacuum your carpets at least once a week, or more often if you have heavy traffic (marching bands, parades, or some homeschooled children like I do frequenting your home). Use a good vacuum that has strong suction, a good rotating brush, and a HEPA air filter. Not all vacuums are equal and choosing a vacuum, if you are like me, can take several hours searching through review sites in order to find the right one. Some factors to consider when choosing your vacuum should include:

Will pet or people hair regularly be an issue?
Will I want my vacuum to be able to clean multiple types of surfaces?
Am I too busy to vacuum regularly? (maybe you need a robot vacuum...)
Do I have stairs, or how much weight can I safely lift?
How big are the rooms to vacuum, or how much cord length do I need?

The more regularly we vacuum our homes the less time dirt and debris has to settle into our carpets. The goal here is to prevent dirt from getting deep into the carpet fibers where calling a professional carpet cleaner may be the only option to remove it.

Prompt Stain Removal / Professional Spot Cleaning

Have you ever been to a house where all the furniture had plastic on it? Well, I want to assure you that even though accidents happen, you shouldn't have to live in a plastic bubble to protect your furnishings and carpets. You can check this site regularly to find future articles that give advice for promptly dealing with different stains when they occur. Overall, it is important to not aggressively rub or scrub the stain as this will cause the stain to reach deeper into the carpet fibers and can cause permanent damage. Instead, use a blotting or dabbing technique to remove as much of the foreign substance as possible. In general, the quicker a stain can be addressed the easier it will be to remove.

Using Area Rugs and Mats

Area rugs and welcome mats are a great way to protect your carpets from everyday dirt and debris. Place them in high traffic areas and entry ways, and encourage people to take their shoes off before they leave the areas where you have placed a rug or mat.

Maintain Good Indoor Air Quality

Something that is often overlooked in maintaining a clean and healthy carpet is the air quality inside the home. In most homes, the largest air filter for the house is the carpet. It is where dust and allergens will settle and then get trapped in the carpet fibers. If you have central heating and air conditioning it is recommended that you change your HVAC filter at least once a month. Sometimes it can be hard to remember to do this on a monthly basis, but if you need help there are online services that will mail filters to your house. I have found that these services typically cost approximately the same as going and buying the filters from your local hardware, can save you a trip, and make it easier to remember to change your filter.

If you don't have central heating and air conditioning, I would recommend investing in a good air purifier to reduce the amount of dust and allergens that are suspended in the air in your home. In addition, if you find that the humidity in your home (especially during the winter and spring months) is elevated, you can use a dehumidifier to reduce mold and mildew growth.

Dusting is also something that should be done on a regular basis. You could pair this with vacuuming and do both on the same schedule. If you are doing this, I would suggest you dust first and then vacuum so any of the dust that escapes your duster, and falls to the floor, will be removed during vacuuming.

Rearrange Your Furniture

Not only does rearranging our furniture give us a new look on the same space it can also confuse our friends, family members, and pets! Seriously though, occasionally rearranging furniture helps prevent uneven wear by changing the flow of foot traffic through the home. Much like rotating the tires on your vehicle prolongs the usable life of your tires, rotating your furniture prolongs the life of your carpet by reducing the appearance of wear patterns from heavy foot traffic.

Deep Clean Your Carpets Annually

One of the best ways to keep your carpets fresh is to give them a once a year deep cleaning. This can be done by either renting the equipment and doing it yourself, or by scheduling a professional carpet cleaner (I happen to know one if interested...). Some pros of DIY carpet cleaning are that:

You can schedule it on your own time
You don't have to worry about someone you don't know being in your house
You can do your own research and find a cleaning solution that you prefer
New knowledge and a sense of accomplishment

I love DIY projects and would never discourage someone for wanting to try something new, but if you would rather not spend the time and effort to do it yourself there are professionals available. My biggest recommendation is that an annual deep clean is performed. It is something that we forget about or neglect and it really does prolong the life of a carpet along with providing a healthier home. Regular deep cleans can be kind of like drinking water, if you wait until you are thirsty, you are usually past the point of where you should've drank some water.

Conclusion

The key to keeping a professionally cleaned carpet fresh is regular cleaning maintenance.

Vacuum and dust weekly
Quickly address stains
Protect heavy traffic areas with rugs and mats
Change your HVAC air filter monthly
Occasionally rearrange your furniture
Deep clean annually.

My goal here is that you have a new pair of socks kind of day as often as possible, and I'm here to help in any way I can!

I want to encourage you to remain consistent in the above mentioned routine cleaning activities. You can do it! Also, if it is getting close to time for your annual deep clean and you would like a professional cleaner for the task please reach out to me. If it was getting close to your annual deep clean 5+ years ago, don't fret, we can still get you to the new sock feeling in your home!